Display means



June 26,' 1934. J. w. BARTON 1,964,025

DISPLAY MEANS Filed April 2, 1932 Elilli (l "w1 Patented June 26, 1934 DISPLAY MEANS Joseph W. Barton, Wheaton, Ill., assigner to G-Cedar Corpn, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Eiiinois Application April 2, 1932, Serial No. 602,734

Claims.

This invention relates to wrappers, and particularly to wrappers for mops or other articles which are similar either in having non-rigid bodies to be wrapped and held in form, or in 5 having a protruding handle.

In the past, when efforts have been made to wrap mops to maintain them in good condition during display and until delivery to the customers, numerous difficulties have been encountered which, until the present invention, had not been satisfactorily solved. It was, of course, desirable that during display the articles should appear to the best possible advantage, and for this purpose mere visibility was not enough. The visibility7 of course, could be secured by using as a wrapping material a transparent sheet of cellulose composition of any well known variety. For the sake of convenience, this material will be referred to hereinafter as transparent paper. The use of such transparent paper had the disadvantage that the strands of the mop would be pressed out of place and the mop would therefore not be displayed to its full advantage. Another disadvantage of such transparent paper was that being tough it was hard toopen, and the third disadvantage was that in the former manner of wrapping the paper would extend out around the handle socket and therefore would present rather an unsightly and unwieldly package, and it would be impossible to place the handle in the socket for the purpose of display without removing or tearing the transparent paper. These problems have been solved by providing a cardboard frame, preferably internally hidden for holding the strands in place; by permitting the handle to protrude through the end opening of the wrapper, and by securing the wrapper in place not by sealing it but by folding it and clamping it in place with the handle.

With these and various other objects in view, the invention may consist of certain novel features of construction and operation, as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the specification, drawing and claims appended hereto.

In the drawing, which illustrates an embodiment of the device, and wherein like reference characters are used to designate like parts,

Figure l is a side elevation of one embodiment of this invention used on a common type of mop;

Figure 2 is a plan View of the structure of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken through the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

(Cl. 20G-46) Figure 4 is a sectional view taken at iight angles to Figure 3 through the line 4-4 thereof; and

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional View taken through the line 5-5 of Figure 3.

Although my invention may take many forms, only one has been chosen for illustration, and this form has been shown on only one form of mop, although it will be applicable in one or more of its aspects to almost any mop. The mop chosen for the illustration of this invention is one of a well known type including a head frame 10 from one side of which extends a flat loop 12, and on which mop strands 14 are secured, as by suitable stitches 16. A handle socket 18 is pivoted by a rivet 20 between the sides of the loop l2 and the 70 loop is preferably suiiiciently compressed so that friction will hold the handle socket in any position to which it may be moved. A top plate 22 may be used if desired to add to the appearance of the mop, as well as for certain other purposes of utility which need not be discussed here.

When such a mop is ready to be wrapped, a cardboard frame 24 is placed in a position to support the strands to show them off to best advantage. Preferably with a mop of this style the frame is made from one piece of cardboard comprising a back member 25 and side member 26 folded from the back member; a second side portion 2'7 foldedfrom the other side of the back member; a supplemental side portion 28 folded 85 from the side member 26; and a bottom member 29 folded from the bottom of the back member 25. The side portions 27 and 28 are provided with interlocking tabs 30. 1f desired, the bottom member 29 may also be provided with some 90 interlocking arrangement with the side member 26, but it is preferred to fasten it in place by a strip of glued tape 32. For commercial purposes the lower face of the bottom member 29 and the tape 32 will normally be covered over with 95 a suitable label, which, however, has not b'een shown. With a top plate 22 of the shape shown, the frame is preferably shaped to nt into the recess between the top plate and the strands in the manner shown best in Figures 3 and 4. The 100 back member 25 may be provided with a slot 34 to receive the loop l2. With the frame 24 in position, the mop is ready for wrapping. When the wrapper is sealed along the vertical side of the mop, as at 38, it is folded in at the bottom from the three sides, and sealed, one fold to another, as at 40.

One of the important features of this invention is in the particular manner of folding and securing the top of the wrapper. One manner of wrapping the mop to accomplish this result is quite simple. During the first part of this operation, the handle is maintained in an upright position. After the frame has been placed in position the strands may be straightened out and then held in place by a rubber band placed around the lower ends of the strands. A piece of transparent paper of the proper size may then be placed in the V-shaped rack, after which the front corner of the mop is placed on this paper and the paper wrapped around the mop. After the paper has thus been glued, the rubber band may be removed with a wire hook. As an alternative to the process so far described, a transparent paper tube may be formed, preferably slightly conical in shape. After the frame has been put in place and the strands straightened out, the mop may then be drawn into the tube head first, so that the tube will maintain the strands straight. The front fold 42 is folded as shown best in Figure 2, being preferably of a length to extend nearly to the back of the mop, crumpling around the upturned handle socket 18; next the side folds 44 are folded in and back, being preferably of a length to extend clearly behind the upturned handle 18. The mop in its then condition has upstanding at the back portion thereof, the back fold 46, which includes the rearward continuation of the side folds 44. This back fold 46 is then rolled, or preferably folded to a size which will t close up to the upstanding handle socket 18. This back fold is then pressed into position, whereupon the handle socket 18 is pressed downward to the position shown in Figure 3, which presses both the back fold 46 and the side folds 44 of the transparent paper down within the curve 12, pinching it between the loop 12 and the socket handle 18.

In this manner, the transparent paper is held in position around the mop until the mop is ready for use, at which time the transparent paper may be removed simply by raising the handle socket 18, unfolding the transparent paper and pulling it off the mop. Even if the transparent paper tube were conical, the transparent paper is easily removed, since the open end may very easily be torn. In fact, the pinching action of the handle 18 usually shears the transparent paper slightly so that tears are started, and when the handle is removed the transparent paper will, in the process of being unfolded, become torn sufficiently for the mop to be removed.

While the mop is on display it is a simple matter for the usual long handle to be screwed into the socket without disturbing .the transparent paper wrapper.

It is to be understood that many other embodiments of the invention, including some in improved form, will be apparent, and in the course of time more will be devised by those skilled in the art. Particularly it should be realized that when a different form of mop is used the wrapping and the frame may be quite modified. For example, if the mop is of a flat type, the frame may be merely a disk sandwiched between a nearly hidden part of the upper and lower strands. Also, if the end folds do not extend to the handle socket, this socket may protrude only between the side folds. With any type of mop the frame may be of a skeleton type on the outside of the mop instead of being hidden on the inside. It is of course desirable that whatever frame is used it be arranged to leave the strands as clear- 1y visible as possible. It is not desired that this invention be limited to the details described, for its scope includes all such forms or improvements as come within the spirit of the following claims, construed as broadly as the prior art will permit.

What is claimed is:

1. A package including a mop having a handle member, a transparent wrapper around said mop and folded toward said handle member, said handle member protruding through the opening between the folds, and pinching the folded over ends between itself and the mophead.

2. A package comprising a mop having nonrigid strands, a handle member, a transparent wrapper around said mop and folded towards said handle member, a rigid frame among said strands for distending the wrapper to prevent its crumpling said strands, the handle member of said mop protruding through the folds cf said wrapper.

3. A package comprising a mop having a mophead, a handle member tightly pivoted in said mophead, a wrapper around said mop and folded toward said handle member, said handle member protruding through the folds of said wrapper and pinching the folded over ends between itself and the mophead.

4. A package including a mop having non-rigid strands, a transparent wrapper around said mop, and a rigid hollow frame among said strands and within said wrapper for minimizing the crumpling of the individual strands by said wrapper, spreading said strands apart to be displayed to the best advantage, and preventing their lateral displacement toward one another.

5. A package including a mop apparently ready for use and comprising non-rigid strands, a permanent metallic support member for said strands, said package including also a rigid frame forining in effect a temporary extension for said support member and substantially hidden between said strands for supporting said strands in their normal distended position; and a transparent wrapper around said mop for protecting the same and holding the strands against said frame, said frame being of such character that it must be completely removed from the mop before the mop is in condition for use.

JOSEPH W. BARTON. 

